Tag Archives: software testing

End of August two years ago, I announced that I was going for the AST board. I kept my expectations pretty low, and I am glad that I did. Two years have passed, so I figured let’s revisit that decision from back then. Long story short: I won’t go for another two years. Read on to find out why.

Several years ago, my parents send me to a local swimming club in order to learn and practice swimming. I started learning the different techniques: breast stroke, back stroke, crawlng, and butterfly. I exercised, and attended competitions. Skip forward ten years, and as a teenager I become distracted enough to give up that sport.

At a particular down I made the decision to stop swimming.

But I felt like I needed to give something back to the community that was a major part of my life so far, that made me grow, that most of my friends were a piece of.

That’s when I decided to become a swimming trainer alongside with giving back my time to the youth to come. I started as organizer of youth events, became a secretary, joined the local outdoor swimming pool community, organized trips, competitions, and dedicated lots of my time.

More than 15 years later, together with a move in jobs, I had to give that up. I never regretted the time I dedicated. I loved being part of that, I loved being part of the different boards that I was on (3 at the same time for some years). If I happen to change jobs again, I will probably consider going back.

Although, right now, the testing community to me has become a second community that I feel I need to give something back. The couple of past years, I learned so much from other people. Then there also were those folks that did the dirt-work in the back. For several years, I have been glad to have these gals and guys, sometimes without knowing it. I feel I need to give something back.

I am going for the board of directors for the AST. The elections are open right now. I want to give something back.

But what? Based on my background, I am considering the position of the secretary. I also would like to help bring an AST-sponsored event to Europe, and finally bridge the ocean from the States. I am quite certain if I become elected, I need to find out more, and I will find out more, and refine my role on the board, so I try to not make up too many promises at this point.

If you feel I can be of service on the board, (and are a member of the AST) I would be grateful if you vote for me. You will find details in your mail that you received for the elections.

Stick in software testing long enough, and you will see enough ideas come and go to be able to sort out the ones that look promising to work, and the ones that you just hope will go away soon enough so that no manager will pay any of her attention to it. There have been quite a few in the history of software testing, and from my experience the worst things started to happen every time when someone tried to replace a skilled tester with some piece of automation – whether that particular automation was a tool-based approach or some sort of scripted testing approach. A while ago, Jerry Weinberg described the problem in the following way:

When managers don’t understand the work, they tend to reward the appearance of work. (long hours, piles of paper, …)

The tragic thing is when this also holds true for the art of discovering the information about how usable a given piece of software is.

On my way back from the Agile Practitioners Conference 2013 in Tel Aviv, Isreal I digest lots of information and bar discussion content. After attending Dan North‘s tutorial on Tuesday, I have six sheets of paper on notes with me, that will probably fill my writing buffer for the next half year. Time to get started. Here I connect Dan’s model of the Three Ages to Software Testing.

On the Agile testing mailing list there is currently a discussion on-going about the value of certifications and certificates. I have a strong opinion on it, and I would like to provide them on my blog. The basis has been the upcoming Certifiaction program for Agile testers. I have provided my critics to their courses as far as I could. I admire the efforts people put in such courses. That said, I don’t intend to offend anyone involved in certification programs, and will try to raise my objections as constructive as possible. But I also know that I will fail from time to time.